Miss Dawson (Biology Teacher, CAS & Service Coordinator)
The academic year began as it always does with our community vote to select a school charity. The Service team of Rea Pourawal (Service Captain) and her prefects, Hannah Tollman, Ellie Simester and Alicia Scheller shortlisted three charities, from which FACES (Family and Children’s Early-help Services), a local independent charity offering practical and emotional support to families under stress, was selected. Rea and her team started off with a very successful ice cream sale in the summer term. This year the team wanted to make it a priority that, not only did we raise money for the school charity but also, we raised awareness of the charity and its work in our community.
At BGS, we have Service projects for Years 7, 8, 10 and the Lower Sixth and Autumn Term is the turn of Giving Forward, our Year 10 advocacy project. This year was the seventh time we have carried out this project and marks over ten thousand pounds (£10,500) having been donated to 18 different local charities in Bedford and the surrounding community, helping to support a diverse range of social issues. This year the judges awarded the £1000 grant money to Naimah Chowdhury, Ciara Allen, Anastasia Bullock and Sirisha Arun, for their chosen charity of CHUMS who spoke passionate about mental health support. The teams representing Bedford Women’s Centre and Carers in Bedfordshire were each awarded £250 for their charities.
In October each year, we donate our harvest collection to charity. This year we gave over 800 items of food and toiletries to FACES to be distributed around Christmas and the New Year, when families are often dealing with the increased expenditure of the festive period.
For the first time, our Years 7 and 8 groups had an afternoon off timetable in December to make Christmas cards and crackers and to assemble toy and food hampers, which were donated to FACES to be given out at their Christmas party.
In January, we were also contacted by the Higgins Gallery about producing a piece of art for their Holocaust Memorial exhibition to mark Holocaust Memorial Day on Wednesday 27th January. Girls from across the school watched a video and discussed the Holocaust in their form groups before submitting words that they felt about the Holocaust, such as horrific, inhumane and trapped. Led by Leigh-Ann Cudjoe (Head Girl, Lower Sixth), these words were laser cut onto thick paper and then rolled to form a cylinder which was stood near a window to allow the light to shine through. The cylinder was then stood in the Green Room to allow students to write down their thoughts to add to a board next to it. The piece was then transferred to the Higgins Gallery to be included in their exhibition.
This year marked the beginning of our partnership with Shackleton Primary, a local primary school, just over a mile from BGS. Working closely with headteacher, Andy George, and the HEART Academy Trust, we hope to support the school in future years with projects, events and ideas. In January this year, we began with a reading programme, where ten Lower Sixth students travelled to the school for an hour each week to support children in Reception to Year 2 with their literacy and phonics. As well as seeing improvements in the reading and confidence of the children they were working with, our girls found it a valuable experience and an opportunity to develop their own confidence and resilience in an environment they were not used.
Just before the lockdown began, 12 super talented members of our staff – teaching, support and VMTs – entered Class 150 at the Bedfordshire Festival of Music, Speech and Drama. The group decided to support Tibbs Dementia Foundation, which is a Bedford based charity who offer a wide range of activities that provide cognitive and physical stimulation, both for people in all stages of dementia and for those who support them. One of these groups is called Music For Memory, where people with dementia and their carers can sing, dance and laugh, with the added benefit of music aiding memory and communication. This charity was selected due to their strong connections with concert pianist and BGS VMT piano teacher, Lorraine Banning, who lost her husband to early onset dementia in 2012. We were extremely proud to donate £681 to Tibbs.
The 2019-2020 academic year has been another successful year in terms of fundraising and charitable projects and activities. During the challenging times due to COVID-19 and lockdown restrictions, the BGS community have shown that they are willing to help those who need our support, with their time, energy and resources, and we look forward to continuing to do this in the new academic year.
